Posted on 12/09/2005 1:28:22 PM PST by livius
For a few moments today, Benedict XVI wore the tricornio, the traditional three cornered hat used by the Guardia Civil, which someone gave him after the general audience in St. Peter’s Square. At the end of the audience, the Pope – as he does every Sunday – went down to greet the people in the first rows. While he was speaking with some Italian military officers, someone gave him the three cornered hat. He smiled and quickly put it on for a few seconds.
Ping for a great picture of the Pope. I'm currently in Spain, where I will be until mid-January, and I can tell you all that Spain loves the Pope!
Let me clarify that: The Spanish people love the Pope. The Spanish government - that wretched bunch of leftist losers elected by terrorists, media support and voter intimidation after the Madrid bombing - hate this Pope. They hate him much more than they hated his predecessor, who did not openly challenge the secular/leftist EU program as BXVI is doing.
viva el Papa bump
One day, Spain will be free again.
Do you have an English-language article about the Left being up-in-arms about this?
Viva Cristo Rey!
(Long live Christ the King, the slogan of Spanish-speaking anti-revolutionaries in the first half of the 20th century)
Viva il Papa! ping!
Catholic ping!
Pope Benedict is one of the sharpest people alive. I'm sure he knew exactly what it meant.
Before he became Pope, he was one of the deepest thinkers of the twentieth century, a leading theologian and a world-class philosopher.
Did you see the 'Pope John Paul' movie on TV the other night? I thought Jon Voight did an excellent job. The actor who played Cardinal Ratzinger looked a lot like a younger Pope Benedict too. Except I think he was taller.
What does it mean? I don't get why the socialists are upset. Don't they run the military and police now?
No, General Audiences are on Wednesdays. On Sundays he gives his Angelus blessing from the balcony of his papal apartments. I saw him in person a couple of weeks ago for the General Audience and then at Vespers a few days later.
What did he look like? Does he look well and happy (I mean, given the great burden that he is bearing)? He's not a young man, and I worry about and pray for him.
The dominant political event in Spain was the civil war, which basically was between the Republicans or Socialists (read Communists) on one side and the Catholics on the other. This goes back all the way to the time of the Marxist Leninists in Russia in 1917.
Spanish Socialists have a history of violence, which included the murder of nuns and priests before they were defeated by Franco.
So there is a good deal of hatred between the Socialist government and the descendants of murdered Catholics. After Franco left the scene, the Socialists thought they were owed their own term in power, but for the most part the voters have thought differently.
I have an aged friend in Spain, originally a friend of my Aunt, some of whose relatives were murdered by the Communists. I believe that for the most part Catholics have been forgiving of the past but Socialists have not.
He looked brilliantly happy...he beamed and we all were ecstatic. The nuns around me were like teenage girls...some were in their 70s and they made sure that I could see. I was weeping like a baby and realized it only after he passed by. I had aisle seat for both so I could literally reach out and touch him. Can I say that it was magical?
"Benedikt - Gott geschickt!"
Thank you, Carolina. You beat me to it. I post a transcript of the Pope's weekly audiences every Wednesday. In fact, on the thread for this week's audience, I posted pictures of Benedict XVI wearing the three cornered hat.
I know about the civil war; I guess I just don't understand the significance of the hat.
Perhaps the hat has become strongly identified with the nationalists?
I want one of those hats! Especially if it cheeses off the Socialists.
There I have to speculate a bit. The Guardia Civil has been actively searching for terrorists, and especially after the Socialists came to power after the train bombings, there was a noticeable disconnect between the behavior of the government and the behavior of the Guardia. The Guardia kept investigating and arresting perpetrators, while the government seemed to want to ignore it and just get along. So I would guess that it's the difference between traditional Spanish patriots represented by the Guardia and get-along-with-terrorist attitude of the Socialists.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.